John 10

John 10:2

2, 3. But he that entereth in &c.] But He that comes by God’s appointment is the true shepherd: Him God calls to this office, and His faithful servants obey Him, and He is diligent and conscientious in the discharge of His duty. Dean Stanhope.

2.—that Mary which anointed &c.] See chap. xii. 3. Mary had not anointed His feet before this event of the raising of Lazarus; but the Evangelist points her out by this circumstance, as one for which she was generally known. Dr. Whitby.

John 10:4

4.—and the sheep follow him: &c.] The sheep in

John 10:5

5.—a stranger] One who has no commission from God, and teacheth not His word. Dr. Whitby.

John 10:7

7.—I am the door of the sheep.] I Myself am the door of God’s sheepfold; the way which God hath revealed for the salvation of men; by which alone He hath appointed to bring them to eternal happiness. Dr. S. Clarke.

John 10:8

8.—All that ever came before me &c.] Pretending to be the Prophet or Messiah promised to the Jews, and to instruct the people, without having received a Divine commission to that effect. Dr. Whitby. The expression includes all those who came in opposition to our blessed Saviour, and preached any doctrines which hindered men from believing on Him; or supported them in a false expectation of being saved, either without any Messiah at all, or by any other Messiah. Dean Stanhope. —but the sheep did not hear them.] Being obedient only to the voice of God, their true Shepherd. Dr. Whitby.

John 10:9

9.—he shall be saved.] Shall be kept safe, as sheep are kept by a careful shepherd. Bp. Mann.

John 10:10

10. The thief cometh not, but for &c.] The false teacher intends nothing but to make a prey of the people: I come for their infinite benefit and advantage, and so approve Myself a true teacher. Dean Stanhope.

John 10:11

11. I am the good shepherd.] Referred to by the Prophets, Issi. xli. 11; Ezek. xxiv. 23; xxvii. 24; who am ready, for the sake of My flock, to expose Myself to all dangers and sufferings, and even to lay down My life for their sakes. Dr. S. Clarke.

John 10:12

12.—he that is an hireling.] Who is an intruder, who intends not the good of the flock, but his own profit. Dr. Whitby. Without having any affectionate Anno DOMINI 32. : Icel. 60. 11. Ezek. 34. 23. He proverb by his works that he is Christ the Son of God.

John 10:16

16. And other sheep I have.] Besides those of God’s ancient flock, the Israelites, other well-disposed persons of the Gentiles, scattered through the world, who shall at length hear the sound of My doctrine and become My disciples: these I will bring and unite to the former, and they shall all become one fold under one Shepherd, joined together in one holy fellowship, in the profession and practice of one pure and undefiled religion; and making, without distinction of nations or families, one undivided Church of God, under one head, which is Christ. Dr. S. Clarke.

John 10:17

17.—that I might take it again.] By a glorious resurrection. Dr. Whitby.

John 10:18

18. No man taketh it &c.] It would not be in the power of man to take My life away from Me, if I did not of My own accord lay it down: I can give Myself up to be crucified, and then can rise to life again; to do thus, My Father hath appointed Me; this is a prime part of My commission. Dr. Hammond.

“No man taketh it from Me” by force, against My will, or before the time.

—I have power] Full and absolute, Divine and peculiar. Dr. Trapp.

John 10:22

22.—the feast of the dedication.] This feast was instituted by Judas Maccabeus, in memory of the restoration of the altar and temple, which had been profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes, 1 Mac. iv. 59; 2 Mac. x. 8. It was celebrated on the 25th of the month Cialeu, answering to the beginning of our December; when, therefore, as the text expresses, “it was winter.” It is to be remarked, from our Saviour’s countenancing this festival with His presence, that festivals of mere human institution, in commemoration of publick blessings, may lawfully be appointed by publick authority. Grotius, Dr. Whitby.

John 10:23

23.—in Solomon’s porch.] In the porch or colonnade built on the place where that of Solomon had

John 10:26

26. But ye believe not, &c.] Ye persist in unbelief, not through want of evidence of the truth, but “because ye are not of My sheep,” ye are not of those who are disposed to attend to, and obey, My doctrine. Dr. Whitby.

John 10:28

28.—neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.] No force or malice of men or devils shall ever be able to pluck them away from me. Dr. S. Clarke.

The expressions of this verse have sometimes been understood to imply, that those who are once in a state of grace can never finally fall away, or be effectually seduced by any temptations from the path of piety. But such cannot be the real sense: for, 1st, the frequent cautions and exhortations given in Scripture to Christ’s flock, not to fall from grace, but to continue steadfast in the faith, are certain demonstrations that they may so fall away. 2nd, Christ only promises here, that His sheep should never perish through any defect on His part, or by the force of any one plucking them by violence out of His hands. Those persons who, by the allurements of the world, the flesh, and the devil, cease to obey His laws, are not snatched out of His hands, but choose to go from Him. 3rd, The text seems only to speak of those sheep which have already so persevered as to receive the reward of their obedience, eternal life, assuring them that their felicity shall be secure from all interruption. Dr. Whitby.

John 10:30

30. I and my Father are one.] The Father is in Me, and I in Him, and so one with Him. For these words declare, 1st, an identity of nature or essence, or the individual unity by which two persons subsist or are mutually in each other. 2dly, A distinction of persons, because no one is said to be in himself. 3rdly, The most intimate and perfect inhabitation of each person in the other. Dr. Trapp.

This expression cannot be so well understood in English, as in the original Greek. “I and the Father are

Christ proveth he is the Son of God. The sickness and Anno DOMINI 33.

John 10:31

31. Then the Jews took up stones, &c.] The punishment for blasphemy was stoning. It is plain that the Jews understood Him to mean, by what He had just said, that He was God, one God with the Father; otherwise they would not have accused Him of blasphemy: and to avoid the imputation of such a crime, our Lord would have denied this interpretation of His words, if it had not been the true one. Bp. Beveridge.

John 10:34

34.—Is it not written in your law.] The passage alluded to is at Ps. lxxii. 6. Thus our Saviour understands by the term Law, the Scriptures in general, as at chap. xii. 34; xv. 25. Beausole.

John 10:35

35. If he called them gods.] If they are called gods in the Scriptures, (which are of unquestionable truth,) who had the spirit of prophecy, wisdom, and government, more sparingly and only at certain times; say ye of Me, to whom the Father hath given the Spirit, without measure, and in whom He abideth essentially, so

that by virtue of Him I am in the Father and the Father in Me, “Thou blasphemest” &c. Dr. Tropp.

John 10:37

37. If I do not the works &c.] Thus He appeals again to His miracles, as affording full proof of the intimate union subsisting between Him and His Father. Dr. Hales.

John 10:41

41.—all things that John spake—were true.] Malice itself cannot find reason to suspect a collusion, when prophecies and miracles thus unite their testimony, and proclaim Jesus to be the Messiah. Bp. Horne.

—that John spake of this man were true.] And, therefore, if we believe the testimony of John, we must own this Person as the Son of God, and a much greater Prophet than he was, John i. 15; iii. 35. Dr. Whitby.

Chap. XI. ver. 1. Now a certain man &c.] It is observable, that this remarkable history of the raising of Lazarus is omitted by the other three Evangelists. A very probable reason for this omission is, that, as Lazarus was living when they wrote their Gospels, (for according to received tradition he lived thirty years after he was raised from the dead,) they were unwilling to point him out in a particular manner, so as to expose him to the malice of the Jews; see chap. xii. 10: and, when he was alive, the event must have been perfectly well known to all, without the necessity of its being recorded. When, however, St. John wrote, as Lazarus was dead, there was no personal risk to him in recording the event, and it was necessary so to do, in order to perpetuate the memory of it for future generations. Grotius, Dr. Whitby.